World

12 Things You Forgot Happened in 2013

12 Things You Forgot From 2013

1. Paula Deen's Career Melts After Deposition

Paula Deen, the celebrity cook known best for her affinity for adding extra butter, faced career chaos this summer over details of a leaked deposition. The paperwork included Deen's admissions to using the N-word and plans for a Southern plantation-style wedding, among others.

In the wake of the deposition, Deen was booted from pork-producing company Smithfield Foods and her television home, the Food Network. Both noted an intolerance to racial slurs as the cause.

Deen later appeared on the Today show to address her side of the story. Watch it in full here.

2. Dennis Rodman Kicked It With Kim Jong Un – Twice

Former NBA star and self-titled "bad boy" Dennis Rodman visited North Korea in early 2013 with a film crew from media company Vice -- a "basketball diplomacy" trip, the company claimed, that they would turn into an HBO series.

Rodman and his film crew were reportedly the first Americans to have met Kim since he took over North Korean rule from his father Kim Jong-il in 2011.

The communist dictatorship has been at odds with the United States for decades. The country made direct nuclear threats to the Obama administration just months before Rodman's visit. But the basketball star insists Kim is a big-time basketball fan, particularly of the late-90s Chicago Bulls squad Rodman was a part of.

Rodman returned for a second visit in early September. He'll reportedly return in late December 2013 for a third time, despite political tension following Kim's ordered assassination of his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, last week.

4. The Manti Te'o Girlfriend Hoax

American linebacker Manti Te'o, who was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the 2013 NFL draft, was subject to a bizarre romantic hoax.

In October 2012, Te'o, then a linebacker for the University of Notre Dame, appeared in a YouTube video to speak about the recent losses of his grandmother and his girlfriend -- both of whom had passed away from illnesses, only six hours apart, on Sept. 12, 2012.

In mid-January 2013, two reporters from Deadspin published an investigation into Te'o's girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, claiming there was no evidence of her existence all along. The relationship was, after all, online -- the two had never met in person.

The sports world was stunned. Kekua, it turns out, was a hoax. The photos associated with her social media activity had been stolen from the account of a young California woman who was unaware of the hijacking.

Notre Dame and Te'o released statements admitting that Kekua had never existed, but added that Te'o was actually among the hoax's victims, not its perpetrators. They had both become aware of the truth in late December 2012.

Later, it was revealed that 22-year-old Ronaiah Tuiasosopo was behind the hoax: He admitted responsibility to Kekua's tweets, speaking in a falsetto voice on the phone with Te'o -- everything.

He claims he was in love with Te'o, and assured the football player knew nothing of the hoax.

5. House of Cards Becomes First Web Series to Win Emmy

In September, Netflix's political thriller House of Cards became the first web series to win an Emmy award.

David Fincher, the show's director, won the award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, beating out showrunners for Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey and Homeland.

House of Cards was nominated for a total of nine Emmys. It won two additional Creative Arts Emmys for Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series and Outstanding Cinematography for a Single Camera Series.

Image: Jemal Countess

6. New 'Harlem Shake' Goes Viral -- and Real Harlem Reacts

Contrary to popular belief, the Harlem Shake -- the real one -- didn't originate from a 2012 synth song; it actually started in Harlem, New York City, nearly three decades ago.

DJ artist Baauer released an unrelated electronic song, which happened to be called "Harlem Shake," in late 2012. In February 2013, Australian-based comedy group The Sunny Coast Skate uploaded a video of its members dancing to the song. Soon, their dance spread everywhere. It begins with a lone person jiving in a room full of bored on-lookers, then cuts into a group craze-off once the beat drops. Like, everywhere.

The real Harlem wasn't impressed. Shortly after the craze began, YouTubers SchleppFilms filmed a series of street interviews on Harlem's 125th Street, outside the famed Apollo Theater, asking residents what they really thought of the new dance that stole their neighborhood's name. The answers -- "It looks like they're dry-humping air;" "They're making an absolute mockery out of [Harlem]" -- are less than flattering.

Some residents later responded with a video showing what the dance should really look like.

7. Veronica Mars Movie Raises Funds Through Kickstarter

Rob Thomas, creator of the TV mystery show Veronica Mars, raised money through Kickstarter to take the series to the big screen.

The campaign's goal was initially $2 million, but at time of writing, it's racked up more than $5 million from nearly 100,000 donors across the world.

In the movie, Veronica (played by Kristen Bell) returns to her hometown of Neptune, Calif., after being gone for 10 years, to aid former love interest Logan (played by Jason Dohring), who's been accused of killing his pop star girlfriend.

The film's release date is March 14, 2014 -- exactly one year and one day after Thomas launched the crowdfunding campaign.

8. Lance Armstrong Admits to Doping on 'Oprah' Special

For most of cyclist Lance Armstrong's life, he'd faced consistent allegations from the media and his competitors that he'd relied on PEDs to win his record seven Tour de France titles, from 1999 to 2005. Armstrong, however, denied everything.

In June 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) officially accused him of doping and trafficking drugs. After more pressure, predominately through social media, Armstrong finally admitted to using PEDs during an interview with Oprah in early 2013 (above).

Following the investigation and interview, all of Armstrong's sponsors -- including Nike, which had previously supported the Livestrong campaign -- dropped him.

9. Lego Builds a Life-Sized X-Wing Fighter

In April, Lego built its largest structure to date: a life-sized X-Wing fighter from the Star Wars franchise.

The structure was built in the Czech Republic over the course of four months, then shipped in pieces via freight ship to Long Island, N.Y. It was officially unveiled in New York City's Times Square for a weekend in May, then shipped off -- again, in pieces -- to Legoland in California.

The huge structure is comprised of 5,335,200 individual Lego bricks. At 11 feet tall, 43 feet long and 44 feet wide, it weighs almost 46,000 pounds. Lego designed the ship in celebration of Cartoon Network's The Yoda Chronicles, which premiered in May.

Mashable was lucky enough to get a first-hand glance. Flip through the full gallery of pics here.

Image: Mashable

10. Videos of Russian Asteroid Strike Go Viral

On Feb. 15, 2013, a small asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere and exploded about 76,000 feet above Chelyabinsk, Russia.

The explosion created a shockwave that damaged nearby homes and injured more than 1,000 people. Most injuries resulted from shattered glass and debris; some even reported sunburn and temporary blindness from the flash.

Within hours of the boom, several videos had already been uploaded to YouTube, most of which were taken from dashboard cameras. (A reported one million Russians have cameras installed in their cars as a way to monitor potential police corruption.)

In November, Science magazine published an in-depth study about the impact.

11. Andy Murray Becomes First British Man to Win Wimbledon in 77 Years

In June, Scottish tennis player Andy Murray defeated number one-ranked Novak Djokovic in the Wimbledon final. In doing so, Murray became the first British man to win the yearly London tournament in 77 years. The last British winner was Virginia Wade in 1977, and the last British man to win was Fred Perry, who claimed the title in 1936.

The grueling match lasted more than three hours, ending with a score of 6-4, 7-5, 6-4.

Murray, 26, gave an emotional and earnest speech upon receiving the trophy. Watch it above.

12. People 3D Print Guns

In early May, a man named Cody Wilson fired the world's first entirely 3D-printed handgun, then filmed it and posted its blueprints online.

Soon, gun enthusiasts and just-plain-curious 3D printer owners across the world followed suit. Some guns fired; some didn't.

Mashable landed an exclusive interview with 30-year-old software engineer Travis Lerol from Baltimore, Md., who printed and tested his own version of Wilson's "Liberator" model. The total cost to print it? $30.

But a year is still a long time. It's easy for some events, especially the smaller ones, to flee our memories. For your recapping benefit, we've rounded up a dozen stories you may have forgotten from the past 12 months. Some are funny and heartwarming, while others are appalling and intriguing. Two cases are even career-ending.

Are there any big — err, rather, small — stories we missed? Share your most notable memories from the past year with us in the comments below.

Mashable
is a global, multi-platform media and entertainment company. Powered by its own proprietary technology, Mashable is the go-to source for tech, digital culture and entertainment content for its dedicated and influential audience around the globe.